"Look what you've done!"
The thunderous accusation preceded the account books as they struck the floor at Lady Wang's feet. The Old Madame's expression was dark as an impending storm, her aged features carved from granite.
Lady Wang's blood ran cold. What she had orchestrated as Ye Li's public humiliation had somehow twisted into her own execution. The irony was as sharp as a blade—undone by a mere girl with a few carefully chosen words.
Her trembling fingers traced line after damning line in the ledgers. Each page turned was another nail in her coffin. How did I underestimate her so grievously? This girl had never received formal instruction in household management, had never been taught the subtle arts of wielding domestic authority. Yet nothing—nothing—had escaped her notice. Even the secret ledgers, those she had believed buried deep enough to remain hidden forever, now lay exposed under the lamplight.
The skill required to uncover such carefully concealed corruption spoke of something far more dangerous than mere intelligence. This girl knew how to handle people, how to make them talk, how to unravel threads others didn't even know existed.
"Old Madame... Master, I..." Her voice emerged hollow, stripped of its usual authority.
The Old Madame's cold snort cut through the air like winter wind through paper screens. "No wonder when asked about the dowry, you claimed the household couldn't afford it. So the money all went to support your natal family?"
"Old Madame, I've been wronged!" Desperation clawed at Lady Wang's throat. "It was the greed of those below us—I knew nothing of this..."
"Knew nothing?" The Old Madame's stare could have frozen wine in summer. "You didn't know your cousin was managing Shende Pavilion? Didn't know about hurriedly replacing all the shop managers?"
The questions landed like stones, each one sinking Lady Wang deeper into the mire of her own making. The Old Madame had devoted her entire life to this family's prosperity. What she despised above all else was watching Ye family silver flow into another clan's coffers—especially from the hands of a woman who wasn't even a proper primary wife, but had been elevated from a secondary position like a performer granted an unexpected encore.
"Li'er, where are these disloyal servants?"
Ye Li lowered her eyes in a picture of filial respect. "I took the liberty of having them detained. Those who signed contracts of servitude received ten strokes each, while the hired ones are ready to be sent to the authorities."
The Old Madame's frown deepened, though whether in displeasure or contemplation remained unclear. "You're still too soft, child. What good are ten strokes? Have the managers of Shende Pavilion and Hidden Treasures Gallery brought here."
Between them, these two establishments represented the crown jewels of the family's commercial empire—one dealing in antiques that whispered of dynasties past, the other in ornaments that adorned the capital's elite. Together they accounted for nearly half of all revenue from the twelve shops.
The sound of dragging feet announced the prisoners' arrival. Several figures were hauled in, bound hand and foot like trussed poultry for market.
Manager Wang's eyes found Lady Wang with the desperation of a drowning man spotting driftwood. "Sister, brother-in-law, save me!"
Minister Ye's face turned the color of hammered iron as he glared at Lady Wang, though he kept his silence—a silence more damning than any accusation.
Lady Wang, fury and panic warring across her features, shrieked: "How dare you! Release my uncle at once!"
Ye Li's smile carried the gentleness of spring rain concealing winter's last frost. "So he is from the Wang family—I thought Fourth Sister was joking. Though the Wang family isn't prominent, they do have several officials in court. How strange that one would become Shende Pavilion's manager."
She paused, letting the implication settle like sediment in still water.
"However... the craftsmen and clerks at Shende Pavilion have accused Manager Wang of embezzling over eighty thousand taels over the past few years. I wonder..."
"This must be slander by those lowly people!" Lady Wang's voice rang with false conviction. "How could my cousin embezzle money?"
Ye Li glanced at the Old Madame, her expression innocent as morning dew. "Since Lady Wang vouches for Manager Wang, how dare I disbelieve? We'll just have him and Shende Pavilion's craftsmen and clerks visit the Capital Prefecture for a face-to-face confrontation."
The color drained from Lady Wang's face as though someone had pulled a stopper. "How can we trouble the Capital Prefecture with such minor matters? The new Prefect Qin is known as the Iron-faced Judge—nothing good will come from falling into his hands."
Ah, there it is. Ye Li's smile deepened, though her eyes remained clear pools revealing nothing. "Don't worry, my lady. If we've wronged Uncle, I'll personally kowtow in apology."
The promise landed soft as silk, yet everyone in the room heard the steel beneath.
"Guards, take this traitor out and give him fifty more strokes!"
Her finger shifted, pointing at the Hidden Treasures Gallery manager lying to the side. Her voice, which had been warm as honey, turned cold as midwinter iron.
Having just received ten strokes, the manager's face became a canvas of ash and despair. "Third Miss, mercy! Third Miss... Lady Wang, save me!"
Lady Wang kept her face dark as a moonless night, saying nothing. What could she say? Every word now was a trap waiting to spring.
The Old Madame's aged eyes narrowed to calculating slits. "Do as Third Miss commands."
Her gaze at Ye Li carried layers of meaning—assessment, approval, and perhaps a hint of wariness at discovering a tiger cub where she'd expected a kitten.
Ye Li naturally understood the scrutiny but paid it no mind. She had already committed to this path; there was no turning back now. Her gaze fixed on the manager like a hawk marking prey.
"You're different from Manager Wang. You were sold to the Xu family and came as part of Mother's dowry. Mother treated you well when she was alive, yet in just these few years you dare betray your masters. Even if you're beaten to death, no one would dare say a word! Beat him hard!"
The manager collapsed to the ground, his body wracked with tremors violent enough to shake the very floor. The assembled servants and family members felt an involuntary chill snake down their spines.
They had all dismissed this unremarkable Third Miss as naive and easy to bully—a harmless sparrow among hawks. How catastrophically they had misjudged her.
"No... Third Miss, mercy! Lady Wang, save me... Lady Wang, most of the money I took went to you! You can't abandon me now!"
The confession erupted like a dam bursting.
"Nonsense! What are you saying? Take him away quickly!" Panic stripped Lady Wang's voice of all pretense.
The guards dragged the manager out, and soon his miserable howls echoed through the courtyard like a ghost's lament. As the hall fell into suffocating silence, Ye Li's refined voice rang out soft as temple bells.
"Qingshuang, have Manager Wang and everyone from Shende Pavilion taken to the Capital Prefecture. Tell Prefect Qin that we've heard of his impartial justice and ask him to give our Ye family justice."
"Yes!" Qingshuang's response carried the crisp satisfaction of a servant watching their mistress triumph.
"Wait..." Ye Ying stepped forward, her expression painted with perfect distress. "Grandmother, Father, this absolutely cannot happen! If we go to the authorities, this will ruin both Noble Lady Zhao's and Prince Li's reputations... I... I won't be able to show my face at my wedding. Please, Father and Grandmother, reconsider..."
"Mother..." Minister Ye looked to the Old Madame, his position clear without stating it explicitly. The family couldn't afford scandal—not with Noble Lady Zhao establishing herself in the palace, not with Ye Ying's marriage to Prince Li on the horizon.
The Old Madame studied Ye Li as though seeing her for the first time, then turned her gaze to Manager Wang with undisguised disgust. "Since we're all relatives, we shouldn't completely fall out. But the shops are Li'er's, and we can't just let this go. Make up the missing silver quickly—after all, we can't offend Prince Li, and we must give Prince Ding's estate a proper accounting."
"Make it up?!" Lady Wang's outcry bordered on hysteria. Over a hundred thousand taels—she might as well be asked to pluck stars from the sky.
"Silence!" The Old Madame's voice cracked like a whip. "As a second wife, embezzling the primary wife's dowry—isn't that shameful? If you don't care about face, Fourth Miss does, and Noble Lady Zhao in the palace does! Bring me the household accounts—I want to see how you've been managing things!"
Lady Wang's face turned the color of funeral cloth. The Old Madame was about to strip her of household authority, that final bastion of power and dignity.
"Old Madame..."
Ye Li stepped forward with the timing of a theater master, her soft voice interrupting Lady Wang's plea. "Old Madame, the Wang family is still Second Sister and Fourth Sister's maternal family. Originally, giving them this money wouldn't matter. However... Mother specified before her death that some should be set aside to care for Grandmother and some for the sisters' dowries."
Her voice carried the reasonable tone of someone merely stating facts, not delivering calculated strikes.
"I think we needn't ask for too much—the household now has only Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Sisters unwed, so let's say ten thousand taels each. Plus thirty thousand taels for Grandmother's private purse. Sixty thousand taels in total should suffice."
She turned to Concubine Zhao with a smile as warm as spring sunshine. "Don't worry, Aunt. If there are future brothers or sisters, I'll naturally provide their share as well."
Concubine Zhao startled, her previous regret and dissatisfaction evaporating like morning mist. Joy bloomed across her features as she covered her smile with her sleeve. "Then I'll take Third Miss's lucky words to heart. Third Miss truly lives up to being our Ye family's legitimate daughter—such refined manners."
Whether Ye Li would fulfill this promise later was another matter entirely. But her words alone had secured an ally, and in this household, alliances were currency more valuable than silver.
Sixty thousand compared to over a hundred thousand taels seemed merciful—generous, even. But Ye Li understood the truth others in the room didn't yet grasp. Much of that embezzled money had already been spent smoothing official paths for Wang family men, squandered on luxuries and face-saving gestures. Demanding sixty thousand taels from Lady Wang now would be enough to make her cough blood.
Let her struggle, Ye Li thought with cold satisfaction. As long as Noble Lady Zhao remained in power and Ye Ying became Prince Li's wife, the Old Madame couldn't truly destroy Lady Wang. But that didn't mean she couldn't suffer first.
Minister Ye, hearing this proposal, found Ye Li surprisingly magnanimous. He nodded with approval warming his features. "Li'er speaks sense. Do as she says."
Though he couldn't move openly against Lady Wang for the family's reputation, he had never liked her funneling family resources to her natal clan. The memory of his first wife—who had always placed the Ye family's interests above all else—rose unbidden in his mind. His gaze toward Ye Li grew warmer still, tinged with something that might have been paternal pride rediscovered.
The Old Madame also strongly approved of this solution. It preserved both families' faces while saving several tens of thousands in dowry silver that would have drained household coffers. As for the Wang family... they lacked the power to oppose the Ye family, especially when caught so clearly in the wrong. Though Noble Lady Zhao was born to the Wang family, she was still a Ye daughter and wouldn't speak against her own family's interests.
The Old Madame looked at Ye Li with growing fondness. "Li'er handles matters with proper measure, truly showing the virtue of a family matriarch. Your maternal grandmother need not worry about you entering Prince Ding's household. The Xu family's teaching was indeed good."
Lady Wang's face darkened further at these words, the implied insult striking like a slap. If the Xu family's teaching was good, did that mean the Wang family's teaching was poor?
Ye Ying glanced at Ye Li through lowered lashes, her expression arranging itself into lines of pitiable distress.
As Lady Wang opened her mouth to protest once more, the Old Madame's stern look froze the words in her throat. "Or would you rather visit the Capital Prefecture?"
"I will obey and make up the silver as quickly as possible." The words emerged through gritted teeth, each syllable tasting of bile and defeat.
"Ying'er will marry soon. Spend these days in your quarters teaching her the ways of being a wife."
The order landed with deceptive gentleness—effectively confining Lady Wang to her chambers, stripping her of movement and voice. No chance even to send word to Noble Lady Zhao in the palace, no opportunity to spin this disaster into something salvageable.
"Yes." The single word carried the weight of utter capitulation.
As Lady Wang withdrew, her back rigid with suppressed fury, Ye Li allowed herself the smallest of satisfied smiles. The first battle was won. But in this household, in this capital where power shifted like sand in wind, the war had only just begun.
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